In 2014, American Eagle’s lingerie brand, Aerie, created a campaign where they featured untouched photography of their models promoting the notion of body positivity. This ad was used to break the barrier and standards of the ideal of the “perfect” body reaching out to their audience, which ranges in 15-21 year old women, that their bodies are perfect the way they are. Also it was brought out because the Aerie President, Jennifer Foyle, stated, “We definitely had a creative moment where the team got together, and we just said ‘Really, what’s happening today with millennials and the next generation?'” According to Huffington Post, when she spoke to Business Insider the year before she also state that, “And we really felt like girls today are just more independent and stronger than ever. We just really knew it would resonate with this generation.”

Among that, sales have gone up 32% since the start of the campaign. While the world seems to be on board with such a campaign, I found one article that is not convinced. Fusion’s Cora Harrington writes listening three ways she’s not convinced of the company’s new campaign quite yet. She obviously states she cannot disagree with the surge of sales that has aroused the company since its campaign release, but she always wrote that the company closed down 15% of its retail stores in the U.S. including 34 its Aerie’s shops signifying that store closures peek revenues at other stores still in production. She also adds that the stores bralette section has doubled down because it is not a popular margin in sales. And because a variety of other companies sell lingerie products as well, their no-Photoshop campaign isn’t what could be their reason for surging sales. Finally, Harrington describes while Aerie is given the credit of obscuring beauty standards by not touching up their photos of models, it’s not doing the job all the way through. Harrington posted with an example that the pictures of their models still shows the European-centric beauty standards that has embodied society for so long. She states, “What standard of beauty is Aerie challenging here? They’ve placed themselves at the forefront of the body positivity movement, yet they’re relying on the very same imagery that this movement was created to disrupt.” She concludes that Aerie is less diverse than Victoria’s Secret.

I, personally, am proud of a company such as American Eagle promoting body positivity with Aerie using “real” models and not touching up any of the photos showing the models in their curves, rolls, marks and scars. However, there is still work to be done and process still need to be made. While this lineup of #AerieREAL models shows a very diverse cast including women that work within the company, there’s still a spectrum of representation that is being left out. While we have slightly thicker women than slimmed down models, we still don’t have representation of women who are as one would say “Precious” (from the movie Precious) sized, or darker skinned women or black women wearing their naturally kinky hair.

But on Instagram and Twitter, the #AerieREAL hashtag has women promoting themselves and their bodies positively through social media using the hashtag to embrace their beautiful selves not fitting into the “norms” of society’s beauty standards.

So is #AerieREAL for real? I believe it is so, but it still has a long way to get as really REAL as it gets into being about embracing body positivity of many, many different shapes, sizes, and shades of bodies.